'Dirty Cowboy' book pulled from schools

A Pennsylvania couple convinced a local school board to pull award-winning children's book "The Dirty Cowboy" from school libraries, officials said.

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The parents went before the Annville-Cleona School Board with their objections to the book and the board voted 8-0 to remove it from district libraries, the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot reported Monday.

The book follows the story of a "dirty" cowboy who takes a bath and his dog then refuses to return his clothes to him because he doesn't recognize the cowboy's scent. The couple objected to the book's depiction of the nude cowboy, whose private parts are covered by various objects in the book's illustrations.

Superintendent Steven Houser told the Lebanon (Pa.) Daily News the parents "were asked what do you feel might be the result of viewing or reading this material, and their answer was, 'Children may come to the conclusion that looking at nudity is OK and therefore pornography is OK.'"

Amy Timberlake, author of "The Dirty Cowboy," wrote on her blog that she was disappointed by the decision.

"To be clear, this fight is not about 'The Dirty Cowboy' ... This fight is about libraries providing access to all sorts of books [the ones we like and the ones we don't], for all sorts of people. None of us want a vehement few choosing the books we get to read," she wrote.